HeLix - Dossiers zur romanischen Literaturwissenschaft

Romananfänge im fremdsprachlichen Literaturunterricht. Literaturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven und literaturdidaktische Potenziale des Incipit

Benjamin Inal — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Novel beginnings constitute specific textual zones that have fundamental functions for the reception of a given text. For example, incipits stimulate motivation for further reading. Furthermore, many novel beginnings contain the poetics of the text in a nutshell. Surprisingly, this textual zone has not yet been the object of in-depth research in foreign language education. Yet the characteristics of novel beginnings have great potential for foreign language teaching and learning. The present introduction to the special volume offers a systematic approach to novel beginnings from the perspective of literary studies, highlighting the didactic potential, for example, of providing foreign language learners with access to aesthetics and literariness.

"En un lugar de la Mancha …". Der Romananfang des Quijote im Spanischunterricht der Oberstufe

Christian Grünnagel — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

One of the most famous openings in Spanish literature – “en un lugar de la Mancha ...” – certainly poses a major challenge for today’s students. Cervantes’ masterpiece El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (1605) is complex not only because we are confronted with Early Modern Spanish, but above all because of its rhetorical demands. In particular, the famous Cervantine irony requires close reading and intensive reflection. This article seeks to demonstrate, using the first lines of Don Quixote as a concrete example, that the text does not overwhelm students per se, but rather fosters creative engagement with literature. We will test a number of reading strategies on Don Quixote in order to clarify how students can productively approach the Spanish of the Siglo de Oro. However, our discussion will extend beyond issues of language teaching as we will take a concise yet in-depth look at Cervantes’ rhetoric in Spanish language instruction.

Das Incipit als Ort für Traum, Erinnerung und Introspektion in Welt- und Jugendliteratur. Didaktisch-methodische Überlegungen am Beispiel von Mikaël Olliviers "Le monde dans la main" (2011) und "Tout doit disparaître" (2007)

Anne-Marie Lachmund — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

The incipit has the capacity to elevate a literary text to world literature with a strong recognition value, as its opening lines often resonate far beyond the text itself. Following the paratextual elements of cover and blurb, the incipit plays a decisive role in a reader’s decision to continue or abandon a book. It hence appears particularly striking when the opening of a novel leads the reader into a dream sequence, a return to childhood memories, or a liminal state between sleep and wakefulness – narrative strategies that tend to evoke more questions than answers. Such beginnings hold significant potential for foreign language pedagogy, as states of uncertainty foster associative thinking and the formulation of hypotheses about the protagonist or emerging plot. This article examines Mikaël Ollivier’s youth novels Le monde dans la main (2011) and Tout doit disparaître (2007) and discusses possible approaches, methodological considerations, and reflections on practical classroom implementation.

Rezeptive und produktive Auseinandersetzung mit klassischen Romananfängen anhand von Comicadaptionen im fortgeschrittenen Französischunterricht. Prousts "À la recherche du temps perdu", Camus’ "L’Étranger" und Flauberts "Madame Bovary"

Corinna Koch — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Comic book adaptations offer great potential for teaching classic literature to advanced foreign language students in an appealing and challenging way. They offer a vivid interpretation of the original text and encourage learners to comprehend and evaluate a specific interpretation, which requires close reading of the original work alongside its comic book version. This paper provides didactic suggestions for the comparative reading of the beginnings of three classic French novels based on their comic book adaptations. At the end of the teaching sequence, the students are able 1) to match the first sentence of each beginning to its title, 2) to summarise the rough content of the works, 3) to analyse and evaluate the novels’ beginnings, taking into account their special features and the comic book adaptation in its interpretation of the original, and finally, 4) to plan and (partially) realise their own comic book adaptation of the beginning of a novel.

Eine Annonce für …? Überlegungen zum Einsatz des Romananfangs von Marie-Hélène Lafons Roman "L’Annonce" (2009)

Marina Ortrud M. Hertrampf — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Using the beginning of Marie-Hélène Lafon’s L’annonce as an example, this article shows the potential for teaching this text of the new regional novel movement in French classes at high school level. In doing so, it is shown to what extent the German translation and the film adaptation offer useful supplements for dealing with central themes of the German Abitur (transformation of lifestyles and the world of work, for instance) while not neglecting literature-based aesthetic and rhetorical learning.